1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation system, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a travel route in a navigation system, in which a predetermined travel route of a moving object can be stored and repeatedly used according to need.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a navigation system displays a current location of a moving object on a map, which is displayed on a screen. The current location is calculated using information that is received from a global positioning system (hereinafter, referred to as a “GPS”).
Additionally, the navigation system provides a driver with a variety of information necessary for a travel of the moving object, such as a direction of travel of the moving object, a distance to the desired destination, a current travel velocity of the moving object, a route that is previously set by a driver, an optimum route to the destination, and the like.
The navigation system (or GPS) is installed in various kinds of moving objects, such as vehicles, airplanes and automobiles, and is widely used to check a current location and travel velocity of the moving object or to determine a travel route of the moving object. Specifically, the navigation system receives radio waves indicating latitude, longitude and altitude from a plurality of GPS satellites, performs a calculation operation, and visually or audibly informs the driver of map information including the current location of the moving object.
FIG. 1 shows a construction of a related navigation system.
Referring to FIG. 1, a GPS receiver 102 receives predetermined location data through an antenna for the purpose of a navigation service. The location data are transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites 100. A velocity sensor/gyro sensor 104 constitutes a sensor part and senses a rotational angle and velocity of a moving object.
An input unit 106 is a user interface configured to receive various input key signals received from a user and to set a travel route.
A map data storage unit 108 stores map data and other additional information data. In general, the map data storage unit 108 is implemented with compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM).
A control unit 110 controls an overall operation of the navigation system. The control unit 110 determines a current location of the moving object by using a reception signal of the GPS receiver 102 and matches the determined current location with the map data stored in the map data storage unit 108.
In case the user inputs an origin and a destination through the input unit 106, the control unit 110 searches to determine a travel route from the current location of the moving object to the destination by referring to the map data stored in the map data storage unit 108. The searched and determined traveling route is displayed on a digital map of a display unit 114 through a display driving unit 112.
Moreover, the travel route of the moving object can be guided by a guidance voice that is outputted through a speaker 118 by a voice guidance unit 116.
The navigation system receives GPS satellite signals from the plurality of GPS satellites 100 located over the earth and checks the current location and the direction of travel of the moving object to thereby track a travel trace. Additionally, the navigation system provides the driver with the shortest route among several travel routes from the origin to the destination.
Meanwhile, the related navigation system tracks the location of the moving object on a road to exactly display the moving object's current location on a road map, and provide a traffic road environment to the destination or various available information such as, for example, an oil station, government and public offices, and the like.
The related navigation system provides necessary information when the user desires to receive the travel route to the destination, but has a drawback in that a user cannot reuse the provided information and accordingly, a user should have trouble performing the same repetitive search, thereby deteriorating a reliability of the product.
Further, the conventional navigation system has a drawback in that when a user uses a search service center for all necessary information, a service charge is added, thereby resulting in the unnecessary search cost for the same information.